'Significant Risk Of Failure To Deliver': Weber Raises Concern Over Micro Nuclear Reactor Projects

5 months ago

During a House Science Committee hearing prior to the Congressional recess, Rep. Randy Weber (R-TX) questioned Dept. of Energy Deputy Secretary, David Turk, about nuclear energy reactor grants.

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00:00minutes for his questions. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Turt, in October 2020, by

00:08the way, thank you for being here, okay. In 2023 October, DOE distributed awards

00:14to three advanced nuclear energy developers to further those micro

00:19reactor designs through front-end engineering and experiment design

00:24processes. DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy, DOE if you will, has made the

00:29sourcing of high assay, low-enriched uranium, HALU, a priority so these

00:35companies have access to the proper advanced fuel needed for these very

00:38projects. Unfortunately, it's my understanding that this fuel will not be

00:43provided on schedule, that will put these companies at

00:48significant risk of failure to deliver on time for the 2026 target, the

00:53demonstrations at the Idaho National Lab. So when does the

00:58DOE, if you're doing any plan on meeting its congressionally mandated

01:04obligation, do you know a time frame and can you ensure that this fuel will be

01:10awarded to RFP applicants before the end of 2024? Do you have a window

01:16there or do you know? Yeah, thanks for the question, Congressman, and thanks for the

01:20focus in this area. There's such a huge opportunity for micro reactors, for small

01:24modular reactors, generation 3 plus, generation 4, etc. So thank you for the

01:29focus there. And we were able to get a significant amount of funding repurposed

01:34through the bipartisan infrastructure legislation and the most recent

01:38supplemental to build up our HALU supply. I don't know the particular timelines

01:42that you're asking about for these micro reactors but happy to look at that and

01:45this is an area that we're spending a lot of time and focus on in trying to

01:49make sure that we've got the fuel available for the entrepreneurs, for the

01:52companies that are doing some pretty groundbreaking work, including at our

01:56Idaho National Lab. Which we love hearing but we want to see it going along too

02:01because you're probably aware, and we'll get maybe a contact from your... That

02:05sounds great, more than happy to follow up. Right, but you're probably aware that

02:08that if they don't get this HALU, that these companies may be forced to source

02:11it from Russia or China if the DOE either cannot or doesn't deliver the

02:17fuel on schedule. Well and that was the whole point of repurposing that 2.7

02:21billion dollars to make sure on HALU but low enriched uranium that we're

02:26providing that. We're building up our domestic supply chain for that and we

02:29don't have to rely on Russia. That's not what we need to do. Do you know, are you

02:33all in touch with those companies to keep them, kind of give them an updated

02:36time schedule? I'm sure we are and we can make sure that the direct point of

02:41contact and our nuclear energy office is following up with you and your staff to

02:44make sure that everything's synced up. Well that'd be very helpful but we also

02:48want you to follow up with those companies as well. Yeah, yeah, I'm happy to. I'm most

02:52positive but I don't know the particulars involved so I don't want to

02:55say something that I'm not a hundred percent sure of. Well if you don't, you

02:58won't make a good husband. You can talk to my wife about that. Okay, I'm just saying. We also

03:04have seen the bipartisan, bicameral support for next

03:08generation nuclear technology which we're talking about. However, the FY 25

03:14DOE budget does not include a request for additional funding to support those

03:21two furthest along small modular nuclear projects in the country including

03:25Dow and X energy project in my state of Texas. So how are we going to advance or

03:32accelerate advanced nuclear deployment if the DOE is not in financial shape,

03:37doesn't have the wherewithal, not in the budget, to de-risk these first-of-a-kind

03:42projects so that it actually helps decrease costs for future projects? How

03:48do we do that if it's not in your budget? Yeah, so I'm very familiar with the X

03:52energy program including with Dow. I think it's incredibly exciting what

03:56they're working on and it's not just electricity generation but it's the heat

04:00which is incredibly helpful from an industrial capacity as well. So there's a

04:04lot of things to really like about that project. We did get some funding through

04:08the extraordinary legislation that was passed outside the appropriations process

04:13to help on the advanced demo reactor program. That is helpful. We also got

04:18another billion dollar repurpose for gen 3 plus which is different than

04:22what you're talking about which is generation 4. But there is such strong

04:27bipartisan support for small modular reactors. We just need to make sure we're

04:31all doing our part to be helpful on that front. Well, is it the same question

04:35then? Does Dow and X energy, do they know that? Is there a time frame? Are

04:39y'all communicating with them? So we're in constant communication with both and

04:43our team right now is trying to make sure that we're spending those federal

04:47taxpayer dollars to the biggest bang that they possibly can achieve. Okay, I

04:51better jump real quick. My district has three LNG facilities. DOE officials

04:56stated, so the export ban has real impact on us. DOE officials stated that

05:01National Labs will play a role in updating the public interest

05:04determinations for LNG exports through a study, which I think could have been

05:09done without pausing the exports. Okay, ban, putting a ban on. Can you affirm, can

05:15you confirm exactly which labs are participating in that study? Yeah, happy

05:19to do it. We've got several labs. Our National Energy Technology Lab has done

05:23a lot of work in this area and will continue. But we're making sure that

05:26we're bringing in other labs including our Pacific Northwest National Lab as

05:30well. And we're making sure wherever we have expertise that we're making that to

05:35bear. This is an incredibly important update in the study. And I just want to

05:40clarify, there is no ban on LNG exports. LNG exports are actually being exported

05:45right now at record levels. Well, Mr. Chairman, if I can, I don't want to sound

05:48argumentative, but this puts investors and companies, gives them pause for

05:53concern on what, for example, phase two of these reports are. So I want to make

05:59that point and I'll let that go and yield back. Gentlemen's time has expired.

06:02The chair recognized.

'Significant Risk Of Failure To Deliver': Weber Raises Concern Over Micro Nuclear Reactor Projects

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